1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to locks for use with quick release mechanisms on bicycle wheels, seats and car racks and, more particularly to locks for quick release mechanisms of the type having a hand-operated lever.
2. Description of the Related Art
A customary preliminary search yielded the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
1,099,246 Green PA1 2,140,489 Wise PA1 4,114,409 Scire PA1 4,621,873 Weinstein et al. PA1 4,724,692 Turin et al. PA1 4,770,011 Constant
The Green and Wise patents are of historical interest only since they do not relate to quick release mechanisms.
The remaining four patents disclose locks for use with quick release mechanisms having a rotatable lever; but, their construction and manner of operation are at marked variance from the lock shown and described in the present application.
Quick release mechanisms of the lever type are widely used on bicycles, especially on the front wheel since they allow the wheel to be disconnected from the fork quickly and without tools. It is merely necessary to rotate the lever from a first, or closed, position to a second, or open, position. A 90 degree rotation of the lever is customarily enough to release the wheel from the fork.
While quick release mechanisms enable the owner of the bicycle to disconnect the wheel readily and easily in order to repair or replace a tire, or to chain the disconnected wheel and frame to a stationary object in the interests of security, such mechanisms also respond, unfortunately, to unscrupulous individuals who take advantage of the opportunity to steal the wheel or other part of the bicycle, such as a seat, similarly equipped with a quick release mechanism of the lever type.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a lock which effectively immobilizes the lever of a quick release mechanism of the lever type, thereby foiling the efforts of unauthorized persons attempting to open the quick release mechanism.
It is another object of the invention to provide a lock of simple and economical, yet reliable, construction.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a lock which requires no modification to existing bicycle wheel equipment except the replacement of the existing clamping nut with a torque limiting nut.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a lock which can be used on virtually all makes of bicycles using a quick release mechanism of the lever type.
A further object of the invention is to provide a lock that is fastened to the bicycle by the same clamping action as that of the existing quick release mechanism.
Still a further object of the invention is to provide a lock which requires no tools in order to be installed on the bicycle.
A yet further object of the invention is to provide a two position security device that indicates by inspection whether or not it is in effective position.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a lock that is small and relatively inconspicuous yet is readily available for key operation in all bicycle positions.
Another object of the invention is to provide a lock which can be used to immobilize the lever on the height adjustment clamping mechanism of a bicycle seat.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a lock which can also be used to immobilize the quick release lever on car racks utilizing a quick release mechanism to secure the bicycle fork to the car rack.